Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Heeeere's JOHNNY!

Stephen King’s horror novel, turned movie in 1980, "The Shining" tells the story of the Torrance family; Jack Torrance, and his wife and son, Wendy and Danny Torrance, as they relocate to the Overlook Hotel during the winter season. Upon taking a job as the Overlook’s caretaker, Jack Torrance and family take residence in the prestigious mountain-top hotel during the long winter months, as the hotel is closed to the public in fear of isolating weather. Unfortunately, what Jack’s employers forgot to mention is that the Hotel’s permanent residence will be remaining with him and his family during their stay. (Though, how would audiences react to the proverbial note card on the front door reading "Jack, please try not to upset the Ghosts!")
Jack Torrance doesn’t make light of his job at the hotel, a job he was warned was not easy. Jack discovers through the manager prior to his acceptance that previous caretakers have also been vigilant in their duties, to the point of extremes. The previous caretaker, Charles Grady, went mad during this tenure and brutally murdered his wife and two daughters. The manager of the Overlook warns Jack of the dangers of cabin fever; nevertheless, he accepts the job eagerly. Before the final close of the hotel, Danny Torrance meets with the hotel’s friendly head chef, Dick Hollorann, a man who is blessed with the same supernatural gift that he sees in young Danny. Dick calls this gift ‘the shining’. Referring to the power of telepathy, Dick is able to mentally speak to Danny and also warn him that his power will allow him to perceive things that normal people cannot, particularly, with horrible occurrences that have "left a trace" behind. It is later discovered that the ghostly residence of the Overlook Hotel have in one form or another all met a terrible end.
Within a short time following the family’s move to the hotel, strange occurrences begin to take place. Most notably, however is the lose of sanity from Jack as the days pass slowly. As a recovering alcoholic, Jack finds is new job stressful and often covets the drink that used to bring his mind at ease. He is also tries to set time aside for a new career in writing. One day while wondering the halls of the Overlook, Danny comes across the room 237. Having been warned by Dick that something horrible had happened in the room, he was told to stay out. However, he inevitably chooses not to follow that advice. The next scene shows Danny walking toward his parents with scratches and bruise marks over his body. Having been accused by Danny’s mother for the incident, Jack goes to the room to investigate. He finds a woman in the bathroom, and rising from the tube, Jack embraces her nude body. In a terrifying scene, Jack discovers from the reflection in the bathroom window that the woman is actually old…and dead. Terrified, he flees from the room.
The strange occurrences do not end there. Danny routinely sees terrible imagery and strange ghostly figures of the dead residence of the Overlook. Meanwhile, Jack seems to dwell deeper and deeper into insanity. Jack is eventually encouraged by the ghostly residence to attack Danny and his mother. In one of the most unforgettable scenes, Jack chases Wendy and Danny to their rooms in the hotel, where he tries to break through the bathroom door so he can kill them with an axe. The chase continues outside, as the ghost become visible as if watching the spectacle. Danny inevitably looses Jack in the on-sight maze in the hotel gardens, and Jack freezes to death in the winter storm.
The last scene shows a picture of a party on the hotel walls with Jack at the center and the date reading 1921. The suggested imagery is that evil is timeless and the ghost of the hotel are satisfied with this particular good time (the attempted killing of Jack’s family by his own hand. The supernatural elements of this film cannot be limited to one character, they all shared the burden of the hotel’s evil inhabitance, making for a brilliant horror film.

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